Data reveals military brutalised students, burnt homes, with separatists fighters displacing at least 300 people in 2020

Using satellite devices, and evidence-based reports, a group of researchers have revealed that both the Cameroonian military and separatist fighters burnt structures in at least eight localities in the Anglophone Regions, causing the death and displacement of several English-speaking Cameroonians.

The report also provides evidence that Cameroonian police and Gendarmes brutalised University of Buea students in November 2016, and establishes that separatist fighters caused the displacement of at least 300 people in Bangang village, Lebialem Division.

In April this year, separatist fighters under General Ayekeh stormed the village of Bangang where they burnt about 60 structures, displacing more than 300 villagers, according to the researchers.

“Based on our analysis we conclude that this was indeed an attack on Bangang village in Lebialem, perpetrated by an armed separatist group. It entailed the destruction of at least 25 structures, and most likely 60+ structures, across at least three separate areas of Bangang spanning more than 1km. It made 300+ civilians homeless. It is likely that the perpetrators were led by ‘General Ayekeh,'” said the report.

View Fullscreen

The reseachers’ findings also reveal that the Cameroonian military perpetrated the Ngabuh massacre of some 14 persons, and reportedly burnt down houses in Mamu village, Fako Division, in December 2019.

All these acts constitute some of the several crimes against humanity perpetrated within the crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

Government efforts to organise dialogue in 2019 have failed to ensure a ceasefire or end the crisis in the embattled regions as several killings have been witnessed in the regions this year, especially the massacre of seven students in October.

Economic hardship in the regions has also been aggravated by ghost towns and lockdowns imposed by separatists, with a four-day lockdown imposed last week to frustrate the first Regional Elections in the country.

In September this year, Separatist fighters reportedly burnt down the Likomba market in the Southwest town of Tiko to enforce an ongoing lockdown, according to researchers.

*“The Database team that prepared these particular reports includes volunteer researchers at the Edinburgh International Justice Initiative, Leiden University, and the University of Toronto, with support from the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA).”